Johnita
A feminine name derived from the masculine name John, of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 450 living Americans carry the first name Johnita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Johnita today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Johnita births was 1965 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Johnita. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
450
~ 1 in 761,676 Americans
Peak year
1965
21 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2000 SSA rank
#16,166
Tracked since 1924
Census
Johnita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 482 people with the first name Johnita, which placed it at #21,162 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,162
National first-name rank
People counted
482
482 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
62.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Johnita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnita is Black at 62.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Johnita described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Johnita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American62.4% · 301
- White30.1% · 145
- Two or more races2.7% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Popularity
Johnita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Johnita from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 137 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Johnita by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Johnita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Johnitas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Johnita
The name Johnita has its roots in the English language, and it is a feminine form of the name John, which is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Graced by God" or "Yahweh is gracious." The addition of the "ita" suffix at the end of the name is a common practice in many cultures to create a feminine form of a masculine name.
While the exact origin of the name Johnita is not well documented, it is believed to have emerged in the late 19th or early 20th century as a variant of the more common name Johanna or Joanna, which is also a feminine form of John. The name Johnita may have been used as a way to distinguish it from these more prevalent names and to give it a unique and distinct identity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Johnita is found in the United States Census records from the early 20th century. However, it remained a relatively uncommon name during that time period, and there are few notable historical figures who bore the name Johnita.
Despite its relative obscurity, there are a handful of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Johnita. One such person is Johnita Gordine, an American politician who served as a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1987 to 1992. Another is Johnita Woodrich, an American actress and model who appeared in several films and television shows in the 1980s and 1990s.
In the world of literature, there is Johnita Rodgers, an African American writer and poet who published several collections of poetry, including "Tone Peapers" in 1978 and "Heat Seekers" in 1999. Additionally, Johnita Mizelle is a renowned gospel singer and songwriter who has released several albums and has been recognized for her contributions to contemporary Christian music.
One of the most notable individuals with the name Johnita is Johnita Due, a former professional basketball player from the United States who played in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) for the Phoenix Mercury and the Los Angeles Sparks in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
While the name Johnita may not be as prevalent as some other more common names, it has its own unique history and has been borne by a diverse range of individuals across various fields and professions throughout the years.
People
Johnita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Johnita as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Johnita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Johnita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Johnita going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 761,676 US residents.
Is Johnita a common name?
We classify Johnita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 576 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Johnita most popular?
The single biggest year for Johnita was 1965, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Johnita is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Johnita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 482 people with the name Johnita, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,162 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Johnita in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Johnita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Johnita appears almost entirely female. Of the 482 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Johnita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Johnita is Black at 62.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Johnita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Johnita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.4% (301 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Johnita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Johnita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Johnita in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Johnita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Johnita in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Johnita can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Johnita?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Johnita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.